1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a movable sun visor for interior use in a vehicle, and more particularly relates to a sun visor wherein the visor body includes two visor body halves or shells adapted to close about and slidably retain a carrier attached to a pivot rod.
2. Description of Related Art
Sun visors are well known and widely used in the prior art. Many different types of designs have been successfully employed in vehicles over the years. Many of these prior art visors have been developed in a variety of ways through which visor bodies and other interior components may be constructed and mounted within the vehicle. Advances in design can often add complexities to the manufacturing processes for interior components. There has been and continues to be a premium in the automotive industry on cost savings, and improvements in the efficiency and speed in the manufacturing processes for such components therein. One area of particular focus in the automobile technology field has been reducing the number and complexity of steps required to assemble interior components such as sun visors or visors for use in vehicles.
Generally, in the prior art, manufacturing simplicity continues to drive innovations in the automotive industry, loss of quality and performance in the manufacturing of components for the sake of facilitating production is seldom, if ever, acceptable. There is a substantial body of prior art relating to the specific structure of the visor to provide a strong, light weight construction that matches or compliments the interior vehicle trim in a cost effective manner. Of particular interest has been the clam shell type construction, which involves the molding of two shell pieces or clam shell halves, which are joined to form the visor body. In one typical clam shell design, the visor halves are formed as a single piece attached along a longitudinal edge and then folded to form the visor body. The exterior surface can be molded to provide a suitable visor surface, or a desired outer covering may be added in a variety of different ways known in the prior art.
The clam shell design allows the visor body to be constructed relatively quickly and easily, however the various components that are attached to the visor clam shell halves must in some cases be incorporated with several assembly steps prior to securing the clam shell halves together. For example, some of the known designs require insertion of additional mounting or journaling pieces for retention of the visor pivot rod within the visor body. The construction of the visors having such a design is relatively time intensive. Moreover, the various slides, journals, retainers, etc., utilized in the construction may add significant expense and weight to the overall visor, along with unwanted noise, and increase the number of components necessary to build one therein.
In some cases eliminating parts can reduce the expense of manufacturing and constructing a visor. The decrease in size and weight, however can be accompanied by a decrease in strength. Rotatable visors are a concern where flimsy construction of the visor core and slider components may be insufficient to withstand repeated torque actions on the visor shells themselves, and in some cases cause dislodging or breaking of the components. Furthermore, the consumers of motor vehicles require visors that are nearly silent in operation and do not involve unwanted noises or sloppiness when pivoting or rotating the visors. Hence, it is thus desirable in the art to provide a visor that is lightweight, easy to manufacture and uses relatively few components, yet utilizes a design imparting significant durability to withstand heavy and repeated use and to provide a solid construction with tight tolerances throughout the entire system. Furthermore, there is a need in the art for an improved sliding visor that has a floating carrier that is self aligning and transforms lateral and vertical variations into a single resultant force factor that is perpendicular to a spring mechanism within the floating carrier. There also is a need in the art for a sun visor that uses a vanity system that snaps into the shell of a visor body without screws being used as fasteners.